S.2195 & H.R. 4901 Congressional Gold Medal for WWII Nurses
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(Source: veteransbreakfastclub.org)
August 11, 2025- Berkeley, CA – Two companion bills, S.2195 and H.R. 4901, were recently reintroduced to award the Congressional Gold Medal to World War II Nurses who worked for U.S. Army and Navy Corps Hospitals. Senator Tammy Baldwin (Democrat-WI) sponsored S.2195 on June 25, 2025, and Congresswoman Elaine Stefanik (Republican-NY-21) sponsored H.R. 4901 on August 5, 2025.
Both bipartisan bills were previously introduced several times in both houses as early as 2013 but never received the required votes. For the 119th Session of Congress, it will need the approval of at least 67 Senators and 290 Representatives. It has been almost 80 years since the end of WWII but this long-delayed honor has yet to be given to WWII Nurses who saved thousands of lives amidst great personal sacrifice. Most of the nurses have passed on and only a handful are left today like Elsie Chin Yuen Seetoo who will turn 107 in September.
When the U.S. entered World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, there were fewer than 7,000 nurses on active duty. By 1945, there were approximately 59,000 nurses serving under the Army Nurse Corps, Navy Nurse Corps and Cadet Nurse Corps from all over the country and US territories including the Philippines, Hawaii, Guam and Alaska.
These nurses saved tens of thousands of lives from despair and even death without any regard for their safety or well-being. They provided solace and comfort to those who died far away from their loved ones. Many of them worked near the frontlines in makeshift hospitals and suffered from disease, starvation and constant bombing. Some like the Army and Navy Corps American and Filipino nurses in the Philippines and Navy Corps nurses in Guam were imprisoned, suffering further indignities. Fourteen nurses from the China-Burma-India theater died in a plane crash in March 1945. African-American nurses suffered discrimination and were subjected to a quota of only 56 at the beginning of WWII, which later was lifted only because of the great need for nurses in Europe, Africa and the Pacific. Chinese-American and Nurses of Asian descent from other territories and countries worked for the Army and Navy Corps Hospitals in the Pacific Theater under the most dangerous conditions. And despite being subjected to a forced internment, Japanese-Americans signed up as Cadet Nurses while those who are already nurses worked in hospitals in the mainland. There were also around 100 Native American nurses who served.
The time has come for representatives from both sides of the aisle of the Senate and Congress to come together to recognize the bravery and immense sacrifice that the nurses gave to our country during WWII. Please ask your representatives from Congress and the Senate to co-sponsor these bills. For more information please visit Congress.Gov or www.bataanlegacy.org.
